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Immigrants, Aliens, Evacuees: Exploring the History of Irish Children in Britain During the Second World War

Redmond, Jennifer
(2016)
Immigrants, Aliens, Evacuees: Exploring the History of Irish Children in Britain During the Second World War.
Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 9 (2).
pp. 295-308.
ISSN 1939-6724

Abstract

The Irish in Britain during the Second World War occupied an anomalous and
much misunderstood position, being in Bronwen Walter’s apposite analysis,
“outsiders inside,” a large minority of nationals of a neutral country residing in
a belligerent one. Simultaneously invisible, due to their whiteness and cultural
similarities, and hyper-visible as aliens of a neutral country, they were strictly
regulated with new forms of identification and police checks. Along with citizens
of enemy countries such as Germans and Italians, the Irish “also attracted
hostility and suspicion as Fifth Columnists and spies.” The Irish community
was not, in fact, demonstrably disloyal to the Allies, but instances such as
those reported by Cardinal Hinsley of Westminster to Archbishop Downey of
Liverpool of priests and nuns carrying letters from Britain to Ireland to avoid
censorship would have stoked fears if they had become public.

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

This is the postprint version of the published article, which is available at DOI: 10.1353/hcy.2016.0037